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July 31, 2018 by Greg Underwood

4 Hacks to Keep Your Car Like New

It’s no secret taking your car in for routine maintenance is key to keeping your ride running its best. But whether you’re a DIYer or green to car maintenance, these are the hacks that can keep your car running — and looking — like new.

  1. Tire Rotation

Just like an oil change, rotating the tires on your vehicle every 5,000 to 8,000 miles should be part of your maintenance checklist. Routine tire rotation can optimize your car’s handling and safety, thereby keeping your car stable, handling predictable and safe over the lifespan of your tires.

Regular tire maintenance upkeep, including rotations, can extend your tire life by thousands of miles. Conversely, it can be cut in half if rotation maintenance is ignored. While rotating your tires can be done without the assistance of a professional, the $20 to $40 cost for the service is ultimately worth it.

Plus, professionals have a trained eye for this sort of stuff, and they can quickly spot other potential tire issues that may need addressing.

  1. Detailing

While it may seem like a luxury, having your car regularly detailed is just as important as any other other upkeep. Detailing provides a cleaning and reconditioning of the inside of your car and its exterior. Not only does a thorough detailing preserve your investment, it also protects your ride against the elements, too.

To do it the right way, apply a coat of wax to your car’s exterior painted surfaces twice annually. This protects the finish from oxidation and contaminants. A high-quality detailing can take up to a few hours and often requires assistance from trained professionals.

  1. Oil Changes

Do you check your oil? If not, you should make it a point to do so or bring your car to a local auto shop every 5,000 miles. While some old-school auto experts advise changing your oil every 3,000 miles or every three months, automotive advances over the years have rendered that advice practically obsolete.

Even if you don’t drive your car all that much, the oil still needs to be changed, as engine oil becomes less effective as it ages, which can ultimately lead to a shorter engine life if it’s not changed regularly. Now, if you decide to go the DIY route, be sure to check your owner’s manual before purchasing the oil.

The type and weight of oil vary by vehicle, and not following the recommendations in your owner’s manual can lead to poor performance or engine damage.

  1. Battery Checks

Today’s car batteries don’t often require much maintenance; however, you should still know where it’s located and how to check it. Additionally, you’ll want to routinely check your car battery to make sure it’s not leaking and that there’s no buildup or minerals on its contacts.

To do so, keep a battery-cleaning brush in your trunk. These tools only cost a couple bucks, and you can use them to keep buildup off your car’s battery. Experts say it’s also wise to keep a jump starter and an affordable battery tester in your trunk, too; after all, a quick jumpstart from a friend or passerby can save you hours waiting for roadside assistance if your battery goes kaput unexpectedly.

From routine tire rotations and battery checks to frequent oil changes and thorough interior and exterior detailing, making sure you invest in and regularly perform these preventive maintenance hacks can keep your car looking and running its best.

January 15, 2018 by Greg Underwood

How to Spot Problems with Your Car’s Exhaust

It isn’t really that difficult to stop your car from losing performance from a faulty exhaust, but the really difficult part is detecting that there is a problem in the first place. Nevertheless, experienced car owners and mechanics know that there are certain telltale signs which help to spot a problematic car exhaust and we are going to discuss them now.

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Losing Performance

A faulty exhaust may lead to a significant loss of fuel-efficiency and power. This is one of the most obvious signs, but by the time it’s apparent, the damage is usually pretty serious and that’s why it might be a good idea to keep a regular tab on your car’s performance to detect any otherwise unnoticeable decrease in power and acceleration or fuel consumption.

Excessively Loud Engine

If you have a Ford GT or a Corvette Z06, chances are that your neighbors are already pretty annoyed with the loud noise the car makes, but even then, a malfunctioning exhaust system will make that noise louder. Listen intently while giving your car a cold start or while accelerating to check whether the car is making more noise than what you are used to hearing. If it is, then there’s likely a problem with your exhaust.

Hissing or Tapping

Aside from the aforementioned louder engine noise, also listen carefully for a hissing or even a knocking/tapping sound. If you can hear something like that, you have an exhaust manifold gasket that’s not working right.

Hanging Exhaust Pipe

Most people usually know that it’s time to fix a pipe if it’s dragging on the road, but what they sometimes neglect is the need to address a hanging exhaust pipe. Even when the pipe is intact but hanging only slightly, it’s necessary that you repair it as soon as possible to avoid accidents on the road, should that pipe break off in the middle of a drive.

The Smell of Gasoline

The engine and the internal systems are supposed to smell like gas because that’s what the engine runs on, but when your car’s interiors start to smell like gasoline, you definitely have a problem unless gasoline was brought inside the car for some reason. The smell should intensify while you drive and this is a sure shot indication that the exhaust tubes are leaking and the fumes are making their way inside the car.

Burning Smell

An unexpected burning smell is never a good sign anywhere and this is no exception. If you can smell something burning near the engine bay, it is very likely that your gasket has failed and the heat of the exhaust fumes are burning up the plastic wiring in the engine. While smoke isn’t uncommon either, the smell alone should be a warning sign strong enough for you to get your exhaust checked as soon as possible.

Now that you know all the signs with which to spot a faulty exhaust, this at least should not pose any problem to you, provided you don’t end up ignoring them anyway of course!

January 3, 2018 by Greg Underwood

Why You Need a GPS Tracker for Your Maintenance Records

Lots of businesses have finally found the best way to always know where their fleet is, how long it took a driver to get to their destination, which routes they took, and more. This way is the GPS tracker device, which is now fitted to almost every fleet vehicle. It enables them to automatically see where vehicles have been, how long they were there for, how they go there, and more. This means that logistics can be more automated and more accurate as well.

The Various Benefits of the GPS Tracker

By installing a GPS tracker in a company vehicle, the logistics department can monitor whether cars are used in a nonauthorized way. Furthermore, should a car be stolen, it can easily be found again. This ensures it is recovered straight away, hopefully without any substantial damage. This, in turn, helps to reduce insurance premiums.

These trackers can be installed in about any type of vehicle. It monitors its location, its route, and its speed. This information is sent to a central computer, where information can be printed out to determine whether employees have been productive. Employees also don’t have to monitor their mileage anymore, as this is all done automatically. Last but not least, it ensures customer service is improved because businesses can always tell their customers where their deliveries are.

Accident Investigations, Law Enforcement, and More

If an accident has occurred, a GPS tracker can function almost like a black box. It shows which direction the vehicle was traveling in and at what speed. This enables accident investigators to paint a picture of what happened during the accident, even designating fault to the responsible party. This is another reason why insurance companies now offer discounts to those who have one fitted.

GPS tracking technology is also used by law enforcement, private investigators, and others. They use it in covert manners, keeping tabs on people they are investigating. This means that they no longer have to follow them in cars, reducing the chances of being spotted while at the same time saving money and leaving law enforcement professionals safer.

Trucking companies, meanwhile, use these devices to make sure they always know where their shipments are. Trucks are fitted with GPS systems and can be monitored all over the world. This means that they can estimate at what time a truck is due to arrive with great accuracy. Should a shipment be late, lost, or missing, this can greatly improve productivity.

Then, there is the fact that these devices can track valuable cargo. Simply placing a tracker somewhere on, in, or near the cargo will ensure that it can never be stolen again. This does not show distrust of the shipping operators, but rather acceptance of the fact that heists happen, particularly for high value items. With a GPS system in place, insurance can once again drop, therefore, as well as there being more security that items will actually arrive where they are supposed to.

November 9, 2017 by Greg Underwood

Hacks To Keep Your Wood Floor Looking Brand New!

If you’re lucky enough to have wood flooring in your home then you’ll know what a wonderful addition it can be. But what about when life starts to take its toll and those stunning boards of timber start looking worn and scuffed. Not to mention the hammer they take if you run a busy family home, which is why we’ve researched some of the best hacks to keep your wood floors looking super-sleek and as fresh as the day they were installed.

These methods are super easy and best of all, they cost very little, if anything at all! From things that are really simple to concoctions that you wish you’d have thought of, here’s our favourite home remedies for wood floors:

Lets start with a common problem in wood flooring, dents. Although they don’t pose a major threat to your decor they can be quite irritating, so just how do you combat this? Well, your trusty household iron is the key to this one. That’s right, the cure for all things creased can now help to remedy against dents in your wood floor, mental eh?! Now, this technique is advised for floors without a finish but it can be applied to some finished woods, it just depends on the type. Of course if it does effect the finish but gets rid of the dent then the area can always be sanded and refinished. This is a really easy process to complete and can be done by even the most amateur DIY fans. All you have to do is wet a piece of kitchen roll or a cloth, then set your iron to a medium-high setting, place the cloth on top of the dent then put the iron on top. Hold the iron on top of the wet cloth and make small movement in an up and down motion, this should allow the wood to absorb the water and result in the fibres in the wood to expand to where they originally were. Try to do this for a minute, or until the cloth is dry and check the wood at the end, hopefully it should return to its original state.

As mentioned earlier, kids can pose a bit of a problem when we have nice things. This next tip goes out to all the parents who have had to suffer at the hands of a permanent marker. In fact it is every parents nightmare, looking down at your lovely wood floor and see a giant squiggle of permanent marker.. for some it may feel like all hope is lost, but fear not! The solution is closer than you may think, in the form of your good friend; toothpaste. The toothpaste should be regular white paste, not the gel stuff that’s super expensive, simply apply the paste directly onto the mark and then rub using a damp cloth. We would advise rubbing the area for a good few minutes or until you feel that the cloth can easily slide along the wood, then rinse the cloth that you have been using with water and wipe the surface until the toothpaste is no longer visible. The marker stain should now have disappeared, if it hasn’t then repeat the steps until it does.

The next home-remedy cleaning method comes in the form of a favourite British drink; tea. You may think this is a bit of a strange one, and we did too when we first encountered it. But using tea as a DIY cleaner for your wood makes a lot more sense than using something acidic such as vinegar, which is what tends to get recommended by most cleaning and life hack blogs. So just how do you use tea bags to clean your wood floor? Well, lets start by boiling 2 to 4 tea bags in just over a litre of water, the longer that you leave the tea to brew, the darker and more effective the cleaner will be. This probably goes without saying but if you have a lighter coloured wood then you may not want to let the tea brew for as long, in contrast to this if you have a really dark wood then let the tea brew for longer. Once the tea is boiled transfer the liquid into a small bucket or even washing up bowl, then soak a soft cloth in the liquid before removing it and wringing it. Please note that the cloth should be damp as oppose to wet, this just speeds up the drying process. Once damp, wipe the floor in the direction of the grain on the wood, then sit back and wait for the results!

Last but not least there are also some measures that you can put in place to prevent your floors from any further damage. Aside from the regular “place a rug” or “ensure shoes are removed” advice, we also have a few little tricks to help protect your floor from everyday scuffs and scratches. If you have any furniture on your floor, lets say a dining table and chairs for example, then why not consider putting socks on the legs if you’re entertaining for the evening. That way when the furniture is being pulled and moved around it shouldn’t scratch the floor, plus it will make for a great talking point. If you would like something a little more subtle there are other measures you can take. One of them being wine corks, which you may throw away instantly.. but you shouldn’t! You can cut the old corks down and place them on the end of your chair and table legs, which not only protects the floor but also stabilises any wobbliness too!

So there you have it, just a few easy and cheap ideas to help you protect your wood floor.

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A Million Lives

Travelling in all its glory is fun and exhilarating but sometimes you might want to find some information on where to go, what to see and how to go about it from someone other than the go-to websites, especially when it comes to travel hacking and the coolest, most useful ways to get the most out of your next adventure.

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